George Jaramillo Blinks in Showdown With Federal Judge Over $42,000 Corruption Fine

Earlier this month, George Jaramillo faced off against U.S. District Court Judge Andrew J. Guilford over the former Orange County assistant sheriff turned convicted felon's failure to pay $42,000 in fines.

Jaramillo, who has served both state and federal prison sentences for public corruption, insisted that he didn't have the resources to pay but expected he might have the funds next year months after his probation ended.

To bolster his sincerity, Jaramillo repeatedly interrupted his own criminal defense lawyer to talk directly to Guilford about all his good intentions.

But having detailed knowledge of Jaramillo's profound slyness, Guilford ordered an Aug. 27 hearing where he planned to allow Assistant United States Attorney Brett A. Sagel an opportunity to question the ex-cop's witnesses under oath.

If he found that Jaramillo had been trying to con him, a stern-faced Guilford said there would be additional jail time as punishment.

No problem, Jaramillo replied.

But there was a huge problem. Sagel told Guilford that Orange County officials had given Jaramillo $476,000 in May for back pay.

Jaramillo admitted the payment but described an excuse that Joel Baruch, one of his criminal defense lawyers, cashed the county's check and wouldn't share any of it until they'd resolved their own dispute over fees.

R. Scott Moxley’s award-winning investigative journalism has touched nerves for two decades. An angry congressman threatened to break Moxley’s knee caps. A dirty sheriff promised his critical reporting was irrelevant and then landed in prison. Corporate crooks won’t take his calls. Murderous gangsters mad-dogged him in court. The U.S. House of Representatives debated his work. Pusillanimous cops have left hostile messages using fake names. Federal prosecutors credited his stories for the arrest of a doctor who sold fake medicine to dying patients. And a frantic state legislator literally caught sleeping with lobbyists sprinted down state capital hallways to evade his questions in Sacramento. Moxley has won Journalist of the Year honors at the Los Angeles Press Club and been named Distinguished Journalist of the Year by the LA Society of Professional Journalists.